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Are we fucked? (and how do we fix it?)

ipitytheblue

ipitytheblue

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I rarely start threads and rarely visit the Tunnels so forgive me if this question is redundant over here. Just something I've been thinking about this morning.

I'm wondering if democracy in the United States is fucked. I don't know enough political history to mull over the problems we've had in the past but I believe we're dealing with a confluence of factors now that could conceivably cause us great harm (this part is obvious). Additionally, how do we fix this? How do we get back to a functioning democracy replete with compromise and good faith and such?

I'm not thinking of this from a partisan POV and I apologize if anything unintentionally comes out that way.

An incomplete and uneducated short list of factors contributing to this mess:
- Gerrymandered districts: many representatives are totally insulated from pressure toward moderation
- Totally partisan news sources/versions of reality: people can choose which environment they want to live in
- Money in politics: the influence isn't coming from the people
- lack of good faith in the process: zero trust between parties, government is held hostage as political tool

Some potentially useful steps to take:
- overturn Citizens United and regulate monetary influence
- more parties/coalition governance (or anything that changes the oppositional nature of the red/blue divide)
- change filibuster rules
- congressional term caps?

What do you think? What all am I missing (lots, I'm sure)? Is there a way to push back on the polarization of the political landscape? Will people eventually get sick and tired of the way things work now and vote out the extremists/move towards moderation and cooperation or will one party eventually gain supermajorities and be able to get things done while also pissing off to hell the other side? What would that do to society?

Are we fucked and how do we fix it?
 
Yes, we are fucked. There are ways to fix it, but we are too fucked at this point to implement those fixes.
 
Moving to publicly funded elections or at least overturning Citizens United would work wonders...but that would mean the people who currently have power would have to give it up, and they aren't about to willingly relinquish that control so that the unwashed masses can have their voices heard.
 
We need to get rid of candidate selection by caucus, too
 
Good topic! I have the same concerns. I no longer give a shit about Dems or Pubs. None of the people in office on either side, generally, give a shit about John Q. Public. They are there for their own greed.
 
I've been saying this since the AOL board. We need full and exclusive public financing of all federal races. No outside money or advertising of any kind.

If the only think the Koch Brothers or David Geffen or Crossroads or MoveOn can do is get their members out to vote, Members will owe fewer people less.
 
RJKarl said:
I've been saying this since the AOL board. We need full and exclusive public financing of all federal races. No outside money or advertising of any kind.

If the only think the Koch Brothers or David Geffen or Crossroads or MoveOn can do is get their members out to vote, Members will owe fewer people less.
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Agreed. But it isn't going to happen, unfortunately.
 
I don't understand old white people with fuck you money. If you have fuck you money why spend your time trying to accumulate more fuck you money through manipulation of the political environment. Go enjoy your fuck you money you are going to die soon.
 
With apologies for contradicting your answer (implicit in your follow-on, 'how do we fix it') - No. We're nowhere close to fucked. In my worldview, if / when various factors force us to mothball our carrier groups, we'll be fucked. Which brings up the subjectivity thing... what would be your definition of fucked?
 
It seems to me that we have turned politics into a winner take all blood sport instead of understanding that sometimes you are on the loosing side and if you are you need to bide your time and offer good alternative policies that can compete, your time will come again. If your ideas are sound you have something to offer rather than vindictiveness.
 
time for a constitutional convention. the bicameral structure is badly broken. i'm for a parliament and a prime minister, and I demand that we adopt the British custom of Question Time.
 
And if we do that, I suggest Harvey Fierstein be named Queen.
 
ArsenalDeac said:
Institute a parliamentary system.
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Yep, over time we're pretty much the only Presidential system that has ever succeeded. Ever other successful democracy is parliamentary.

But because that's never going to happen, term limits and non-partisan state elections have got to happen. We need to keep these pieces of shit on their toes.
 
honestly i would settle for some serious redistricting reform. Gerrymandering is a big problem. Put non-partisan bureaucrats in charge of drawing the districts based on population and geography, order them to follow county and municipal boundaries wherever possible. No allowance for race, income, party registration, or other voter characteristics. State legislatures required to accept or reject recommendations of committee in up or down vote.

That reform alone would do a lot to make Congressional candidates run on the strength of their ideas and personalities and not just get auto-elected because they have an elephant or donkey on their sign.
 
Viable 3rd, 4th, etc..... parties would help too. Consensus building does wonders for compromise.
 
ThinkingWithMyDeac said:
I don't understand old white people with fuck you money. If you have fuck you money why spend your time trying to accumulate more fuck you money through manipulation of the political environment. Go enjoy your fuck you money you are going to die soon.
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Solved!

With power grows the thirst for even greater power, I suppose.
 
We do have multiple parties. They've just coalesced into two parties. If the Libertarians, Tea Party, and Big Business Party were completely distinct entities, they'd still probably work together to defeat the Socialist Party, Hippie Douche Party, and Minorities Party on the other side.
 
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